Not the OP, but I had a cable modem in '98. I believe that it was 1.5 mbps down and 256 kbps up, and I think it cost ~$50 a month (which was a steal because it meant being able to get rid of a second phone line that had been dedicated to Internet use). I got super lucky though, because it turned out the local cable company used that very rural area as a testing ground for new equipment (I heard they did so there due to the harsh weather). Some people in that same area were able to get cable modems as early as '96.